JP2018091398A - Holder for bearing, and rolling bearing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a holder for bearing capable of easily delivering lubricant to a rolling body and a raceway, during operation of a rolling bearing in a bearing operation condition such as an application of supporting a rotational shaft included in a transmission.SOLUTION: On an inner peripheral surface of a column part 8 of a holder 4 for bearing, an oil groove 10 is formed, which communicates with a pocket 7 positioned on a one-direction side of a circumferential direction with respect to the column part 8. A depth of the oil groove 10 is made deeper gradually toward the pocket 7 in the one direction of the circumferential direction. A rotation direction A of the holder 4 for bearing during bearing operation is the other direction of the circumferential direction opposite to the one direction of the circumferential direction. A raceway ring rotated during the bearing operation is an inner ring 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a bearing cage and a rolling bearing including the same.

  Under severe lubrication conditions in which the amount of lubricating oil supplied to the rolling bearing is small and the viscosity is low, measures are taken to alleviate the deterioration of the lubrication performance. For example, in recent years, in vehicle transmissions, in order to lower the agitation resistance of lubricating oil for the purpose of improving fuel efficiency, there is a tendency to lower the oil level setting to the minimum necessary or to select oil with low kinematic viscosity, The bearing is subjected to a severe lubrication environment. Even so, there is a need for countermeasures so that there is no damage such as seizure due to oil film breakage and the required life can be satisfied.

  As a countermeasure, in the bearing cage of Patent Document 1, a plurality of thin oil grooves recessed in the radial direction from the inner and outer diameters of the pillars partitioning adjacent pockets are formed in parallel to the circumferential direction. By rectifying the flow of fluid such as lubricating oil, the agitation resistance is reduced, and the bearing rotational torque is reduced and heat generation is suppressed.

JP 2003-232362 A

  Generally, the rotation shaft of the transmission is rotated only in one direction. As shown in FIG. 8, the rolling bearing that supports the rotating shaft includes an inner ring 101, an outer ring 102, a bearing cage 103, and a plurality of rolling elements 104. The inner ring 101 is attached to the rotating shaft. During the bearing operation, only the inner ring 101 of the inner ring 101 and the outer ring 102 is rotated. The rotation direction of the inner ring 101 is limited to the same direction as the rotation direction of the rotation shaft. In such a bearing operating condition, the rotational direction of the bearing cage 103 is determined by the rotational direction of the inner ring 101, as shown in FIG. That is, when it is assumed that the arrow A illustrated in the figure is the rotation direction of the inner ring 101, the bearing cage 103 also rotates in the arrow A direction. At this time, the rotation direction of the rolling element 104 is the arrow B direction in FIG.

  In the bearing cage 103 of Patent Document 1, since the radial depth of the oil groove 107 formed in the column portion 106 between the pockets 105 is constant, the direction in which the lubricating oil flows is the inside of the oil groove 107 in FIG. As shown conceptually by the arrow line f, the direction is along the circumferential direction. The lubricating oil that has flowed out in the circumferential direction from the oil groove 107 is orthogonal to the rolling element 104 accommodated in the pocket 105. When viewed locally, the lubricating oil orthogonal to the rolling element 104 becomes turbulent (see the branch arrow line from the arrow f in the figure), and therefore, between severely lubricated, between the inner surface of the pocket 105 and the rolling element 104. Lubricating oil is difficult to actively intervene, and it becomes difficult for the lubricating oil to reach the races of the inner ring 101 and the outer ring 102, which may eventually cause seizure and abnormal heat generation.

  In view of the above-mentioned background, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to make it easy for the lubricant to reach the rolling elements and the raceway during the operation of the rolling bearing under the bearing operating condition such as the support for the rotating shaft provided in the transmission. It is to provide a possible bearing cage.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a plurality of column parts that partition between pockets adjacent in the circumferential direction, and at least one of the plurality of column parts communicates with the pockets to perform bearing operation. A bearing retainer having an oil groove for guiding lubricating oil into the pocket therein, wherein the oil groove communicates with the pocket located on one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the column part. A configuration was adopted in which it was formed on the surface and gradually deepened toward the pocket.

  According to the above configuration, with respect to the rolling bearing in which the bearing ring rotated during the bearing operation is the inner ring, the bearing cage is rotated such that the rotational direction of the bearing cage during the bearing operation is the other circumferential direction opposite to the circumferential one. A cage can be applied. The lubricating oil flows relatively to one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the oil groove of the bearing cage that rotates during the bearing operation. Therefore, the lubricating oil that has entered the oil groove is guided to a pocket located on one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the oil groove. Since the oil groove is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the column portion, the flow of the lubricating oil in the oil groove follows the groove bottom surface of the oil groove having a radial depth due to the influence of centrifugal force. Since the depth of the oil groove is gradually increased toward the pocket in one circumferential direction, the lubricating oil is changed to the outer diameter side of the bearing cage while changing the direction of the flow of the lubricating oil in the oil groove. It is possible to guide to the pocket on one side in the circumferential direction. For this reason, the lubricating oil discharged from the oil groove to the pocket is easily discharged to the outer diameter side of the bearing retainer, and is smoothly wound into the rolling elements housed in the pocket. Therefore, the agitation resistance of the lubricating oil is reduced and local turbulence is suppressed, so that the lubricating oil easily reaches the rolling elements and the track. As a result, the bearing rotational torque becomes low, the oil film forming ability is improved, and seizure in a severe lubrication environment is prevented.

  For example, each of the plurality of pillars may have the oil groove.

  For example, the oil groove may be a circular, linear, or S-shaped flow path in a radial plane (that is, in a cut surface along the circumferential direction).

  For example, the oil groove may be a square, V-shaped, or U-shaped channel in an axial plane (that is, in a cut surface along the axial direction).

  For example, the bearing retainer may be a resin crown-shaped retainer.

  When considering the present invention as a rolling bearing, the bearing retainer according to the present invention is provided, and the rotational direction of the bearing retainer during bearing operation is the other circumferential direction opposite to the one circumferential direction, and the bearing is in operation. It can be said that the bearing ring that is rotated to the right is a rolling bearing that is an inner ring.

  The rolling bearing according to the present invention is suitable for use in supporting a rotating shaft provided in a transmission.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by adopting the above configuration, it is possible to make the lubricant easily reach the rolling elements and the raceway during the operation of the rolling bearing under the bearing operating condition such as the use for supporting the rotating shaft provided in the transmission. A bearing retainer can be provided.

The partial sectional view which shows the rolling bearing which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention in the cut surface of the II line in FIG. The perspective view of the bearing retainer which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention The partial front view of the bearing retainer which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention (A) is a partial cross-sectional view showing the flow channel shape in the axial plane of the oil groove of FIG. 1, (b) is a partial cross-sectional view showing a modification example of the flow channel shape, and (c) is another flow channel shape. Partial sectional view showing a modified example The fragmentary sectional view which shows the cage for bearings concerning 2nd embodiment of this invention by the same cut surface as FIG. The fragmentary sectional view which shows the cage for bearings concerning 3rd embodiment of this invention by the same cut surface as FIG. Sectional drawing which shows an example of a transmission provided with the rolling bearing which concerns on this invention Sectional view showing a conventional cage for bearings

A bearing cage and a rolling bearing according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the rolling bearing 50 includes an inner ring 1, an outer ring 2, a plurality of rolling elements 3, and a bearing retainer 4 that holds the rolling elements 3.

  Here, the central axis of the inner ring 1, the central axis of the outer ring 2, and the central axis C of the bearing retainer 4 are set coaxially. Hereinafter, the “axial direction” means a direction along the central axis C of the bearing cage 4, and the “radial direction” means a direction perpendicular to the central axis C, “ The “circumferential direction” refers to a circumferential direction around the central axis C. A virtual plane orthogonal to the central axis C is referred to as a radial plane, and a virtual plane including the central axis C is referred to as an axial plane.

  The inner ring 1 is a track ring having an inner track 5. The outer ring 2 is a race ring having an outer race 6. The inner ring 1 and the outer ring 2 are for radial bearings. An annular bearing internal space is formed between the outer periphery of the inner ring 1 and the inner periphery of the outer ring 2 that are arranged coaxially.

  The rolling element 3 is interposed between the inner track 5 and the outer track 6. A ball is used as the rolling element 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the bearing cage 4 is an annular bearing component in which pockets 7 are formed at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. The pocket 7 is a space for accommodating the rolling elements 3. The pocket 7 penetrates between the inner diameter surface and the outer diameter surface of the bearing cage 4. One rolling element 3 is accommodated in each pocket 7. The bearing retainer 4 has a plurality of column portions 8 that partition the pockets 7 adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction, and an annular shape that continues to one side in the axial direction of the plurality of column portions 8 and continues all around the circumferential direction. The circumferential interval between the plurality of rolling elements 3 having a portion 9 and interposed between the inner raceway 5 and the outer raceway 6 is kept constant.

  The bearing cage 4 is a resin crown-shaped cage. Here, the crown-shaped cage refers to a bearing cage having a cantilevered column portion 8 that can be combined with a plurality of rolling elements 3 and a bearing cage 4 by elastic deformation. . Resin crown-shaped cages have a greater degree of freedom in shape design than steel ones, and can realize low torque (low friction, low wear) and light weight. For this reason, in the case of a ball bearing in which low torque performance of the bearing rotational torque is important, it is preferable to use a resin-made crown cage.

  Examples of the resin forming the entire bearing cage 4 include polyamide resin (PA46, PA66, PA9T, etc.), polyetheretherketone resin (PEEK), or polyphenylene sulfide resin (PSS).

  The bearing retainer 4 is of a rolling element guide type. Here, the rolling element guide method means that the bearing retainer 4 is guided in the radial direction by the rolling element 3. The inner surface portions of the pair of column portions 8 and the annular portion 9 that define the pocket 7 are exemplified by a shape along a single spherical surface that is slightly larger than the ball diameter of the rolling element 3, but the inner surface portions are changed to other inner surface shapes. May be.

  Each column portion 8 of the bearing retainer 4 has an oil groove 10 communicating with the pocket 7. The oil groove 10 is a groove that guides the lubricating oil to the pocket 7. The oil groove 10 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the column portion 8. The inner peripheral surface of the column portion 8 refers to a surface portion of the surface of the column portion 8 that is exposed in the radial direction inside the bearing retainer 4. Of the inner peripheral surface of the column portion 8, a portion other than the oil groove 10 is an arcuate surface portion that defines the inner diameter dimension of the bearing retainer 4. For this reason, the depth of the oil groove 10 corresponds to the depth from the inner diameter of the bearing retainer 4. The groove width of the oil groove 10 is constant over the entire circumferential length of the oil groove 10. The center of the groove width of the oil groove 10 is set on a radial plane including the center of the pocket 7 in the axial direction.

  The oil groove 10 is a rectangular channel in the axial plane. Here, as shown in FIG. 4A, a square channel is a pair of a groove bottom surface 10a along the axial direction and a pair of surfaces along the radial plane in an arbitrary axial plane intersecting the oil groove 10. It refers to a groove formed by the groove side surfaces 10b and 10b.

  The oil groove 10 may be a V-shaped flow path in the axial plane. Here, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the V-shaped flow path is a pair of groove bottom surfaces 10 c and 10 c that form an inclined straight line that intersects at the groove bottom in an arbitrary axial plane that intersects the oil groove 10. The groove width is gradually increased as the depth becomes shallower from the bottom of the groove. Further, the oil groove 10 may be a U-shaped flow path in the axial plane. Here, as shown in FIG. 4C, the U-shaped flow path is a pair of grooves bottom surface 10 d having a concave arc surface shape and a radial plane in an arbitrary axial plane intersecting the oil groove 10. It is a groove formed by the groove side surfaces 10e, 10e. If the oil groove 10 is a V-shaped or U-shaped flow path as described above, the lubricating oil is likely to flow through the oil groove 10 quickly, so that foreign matter is less likely to stay in the oil groove 10, and the lubricating oil is also discharged. It becomes easy to be performed smoothly.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the oil groove 10 communicates between pockets 7 and 7 adjacent in the circumferential direction. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the oil groove 10 gradually becomes deeper toward the pocket 7 in one circumferential direction. In the example of FIG. 1, the oil groove 10 is a flow path having an arc-shaped groove bottom surface 10a in the radial plane. The oil groove 10 only needs to communicate with the pocket 7 located on one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the column part 8, and the pocket 7 located on the other circumferential direction opposite to the one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the column part 8. There is no need to communicate.

  In FIG. 1, the rotation direction of the bearing ring rotated during the bearing operation and the rotation direction of the bearing retainer 4 are indicated by an arrow A, and the rotation direction of the rolling element 3 during the bearing operation is indicated by an arrow B. As shown in FIG. 1, in this rolling bearing, the bearing ring that is rotated during the bearing operation is an inner ring 1. The rotation direction of the inner ring 1 is the other circumferential direction opposite to the aforementioned circumferential direction, and is set in the clockwise direction in the figure. During the bearing operation, the revolution direction of the rolling element 3 and the rotation direction of the bearing cage 4 are the same as those of the inner ring 1, but the rotation direction B of the rolling element 3 is counterclockwise in the figure opposite to the rotation direction of the inner ring 1. Direction.

  During operation of the rolling bearing shown in FIG. 1, the lubricating oil enters the oil groove 10 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the column portion 8 of the bearing retainer 4 (the flow of the lubricating oil in FIG. Conceptually shown.) With respect to the oil groove 10 of the bearing cage 4 that rotates during the bearing operation, the lubricating oil that has entered the oil groove 10 will flow relatively to one side in the circumferential direction (the side opposite to the arrow A direction), Here, the flow of the lubricating oil is rectified. The lubricating oil that has entered the oil groove 10 is eventually guided to the pocket 7 located on one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the oil groove 10. Since the oil groove 10 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the column part 8, the flow of the lubricating oil in the oil groove 10 is caused by the influence of centrifugal force on the groove bottom surface 10a of the oil groove 10 having a depth in the radial direction. Has a tendency to follow. Since the depth of the oil groove 10 is gradually increased toward the pocket 7 toward one side in the circumferential direction (opposite to the direction of the arrow A), the direction of the flow of the lubricating oil in the oil groove 10 is changed to that of the bearing retainer 4. It is possible to guide the lubricating oil to the pocket 7 on one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the column portion 8 while changing to the outer diameter side. For this reason, the lubricating oil discharged from the oil groove 10 to the pocket 7 on one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the oil groove 10 is easily discharged to the outer diameter side of the bearing retainer 4 and rotates in the rotation direction B. It is smoothly wound around the rolling element 3. Accordingly, the stirring resistance of the lubricating oil is reduced and local turbulence is suppressed, so that the lubricating oil easily reaches the rolling elements 3 and the tracks 5 and 6. As a result, the bearing rotational torque becomes low, the oil film forming ability is improved, and seizure in a severe lubrication environment is prevented.

  In this way, the bearing cage 4 has a bearing operation condition such as a use for supporting the rotary shaft provided in the transmission, that is, the other circumferential direction in which the rotational direction of the bearing cage 4 during the bearing operation is opposite to the circumferential direction ( It is possible to make the lubricant easily reach the rolling elements 3 and the tracks 5 and 6 during the operation of the rolling bearing in which the bearing ring is the inner ring 1 in the direction of arrow A).

  In the first embodiment, the case of the rolling bearing in which the rotation direction of the bearing cage 4 during the bearing operation is set in the direction of the arrow A (clockwise direction in FIG. 1) is shown. In the case of a rolling bearing in which the rotation direction is set in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 1, the oil groove has only to be changed to a flow path that becomes gradually deeper toward the pocket 7 in the clockwise direction in FIG. Therefore, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the first embodiment, one oil groove 10 is formed in each column portion 8, but a plurality of oil grooves 10 may be formed in each column portion 8.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the crown-shaped bearing cage 4 made of resin is illustrated, but it may be changed to a cage-shaped bearing cage or a metal bearing cage.

  Moreover, in 1st embodiment, although the ball | bowl was illustrated as the rolling element 3, you may change a rolling element into a roller.

  Further, as in the first embodiment, it is preferable to suppress the stirring resistance for all the rolling elements 3 by forming the oil groove 10 in each column part 8, but it is possible to ensure the desired low torque and lubricity. If it is, it is not necessary to form an oil groove in all the pillar parts of a bearing retainer, and at least one pillar part may have an oil groove.

  The oil groove 10 has an arc-shaped groove bottom surface 10a. However, the oil groove only needs to be shallow on the lubricating oil inflow side and deep on the lubricating oil outflow side. Alternatively, straight and S-shaped groove bottoms may be used properly. A second embodiment as an example thereof will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, only differences from the first embodiment will be described.

  The oil groove 22 formed in the column portion 21 of the bearing retainer 20 shown in FIG. 5 is a flow path having a linear groove bottom surface 22a in the radial plane. Here, the groove bottom surface 22a refers to a region of the surface portion of the oil groove 22 that includes the deepest groove bottom and is exposed with a depth in the radial direction. Further, the straight line means a straight line in an arbitrary radial plane intersecting the groove bottom surface 22a.

A third embodiment as another modification of the oil groove will be described with reference to FIG.
The oil groove 32 formed in the column portion 31 of the bearing retainer 30 shown in FIG. 6 is a flow path having an S-shaped groove bottom surface 32a in the radial plane. Here, the S-shape refers to a first curved region having a center of curvature on the inner diameter side of the bearing retainer 30 with respect to the groove bottom surface 32a in an arbitrary radial plane intersecting the groove bottom surface 32a, and a groove It means that the second curved region having the center of curvature on the outer diameter side of the bearing cage 30 is continuous with the bottom surface 32a.

  An example of the structure which supports the rotating shaft with which the rolling bearing which concerns on either of the above-mentioned 1st-3rd embodiment is equipped with the transmission for vehicles is shown in FIG.

  The transmission shown in FIG. 7 is a multi-stage transmission that changes the gear ratio stepwise, and the above-described first bearing is used as the rolling bearing B that rotatably supports the rotation shaft (for example, the input shaft S1 and the output shaft S2). The rolling bearing according to any one of the first to third embodiments is provided. The illustrated transmission includes an input shaft S1 to which engine rotation is input, an output shaft S2 provided in parallel with the input shaft S1, and a plurality of gear trains G1 to G4 that transmit the rotation from the input shaft S1 to the output shaft S2. And a clutch (not shown) incorporated between each of the gear trains G1 to G4 and the input shaft S1 or the output shaft S2. The transmission switches the gear trains G1 to G4 to be used by selectively engaging the clutch, and changes the transmission gear ratio transmitted from the input shaft S1 to the output shaft S2. The rotation of the output shaft S2 is output to the output gear G5, and the rotation of the output gear G5 is transmitted to the differential gear or the like. The input shaft S1 and the output shaft S2 are rotatably supported by a rolling bearing B, respectively. Further, the transmission is splashed or sprayed by splashing of the lubricant accompanying the rotation of the gear or by jetting of lubricant from a nozzle (not shown) provided inside the housing H. Is applied to the side surface of each rolling bearing B.

  For example, since the input shaft S1 is a rotating shaft that transmits driving force from the engine, it rotates only in one direction. The rotation direction coincides with the arrow A direction in FIG. During operation of the rolling bearing B in which the input shaft S1 shown in FIG. 7 rotates, a part of the lubricating oil existing inside the rolling bearing B flows relatively in the oil groove of the bearing cage as described above and is rectified. At the same time, since the rolling element smoothly entrains, the agitation resistance is reduced, and as a result, the rotational torque of the rolling bearing B can be reduced and heat generation can be suppressed. In particular, seizure of the rolling bearing B and abnormal heat generation can be suppressed even when conditions (for example, using oil with low kinematic viscosity) are set in the transmission in order to improve the fuel efficiency of the automobile.

  It should be thought that embodiment disclosed this time is an illustration and restrictive at no points. Therefore, the scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inner ring 2 Outer ring 3 Rolling element 4, 20, 30 Bearing cage 5 Inner track 6 Outer track 7 Pocket 8, 21, 31 Pillar part 10, 22, 32 Oil groove 10a, 10c, 10d, 22a, 32a Groove Bottom 50, B Rolling bearing S1 Input shaft (rotating shaft)

Claims (7)

Provided with a plurality of pillars separating the pockets adjacent in the circumferential direction,
In the bearing retainer, the at least one column portion of the plurality of column portions includes an oil groove that communicates with the pocket and guides lubricating oil to the pocket during a bearing operation.
The oil groove is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the pillar portion so as to communicate with the pocket located on one side in the circumferential direction with respect to the pillar portion, and is gradually deepened toward the pocket. A bearing retainer characterized.   The bearing retainer according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of column portions has the oil groove.   The bearing retainer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the oil groove is a flow path having an arc-shaped, linear or S-shaped groove bottom surface in a radial plane.   The bearing retainer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the oil groove is a rectangular, V-shaped, or U-shaped channel in an axial plane.   The bearing cage according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the bearing cage is a resin-made crown cage. A bearing retainer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, comprising:
The rotational direction of the bearing cage during bearing operation is the other circumferential direction opposite to the one circumferential direction,
A rolling bearing in which the bearing ring that is rotated during bearing operation is an inner ring.   The rolling bearing according to claim 6 which supports a rotating shaft provided in a transmission.

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